Diarrhea

Diarrhea is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day, usually lasting several days and carrying a real risk of dehydration, which can show up as loss of the skin's normal elasticity and irritable behavior before progressing to reduced urination, pale skin, rapid heart rate, and decreased responsiveness in severe cases. Its most common cause is an intestinal infection from a virus, bacterium, or parasite, a condition broadly called gastroenteritis and usually spread through contaminated food or water or direct contact with an infected person; non-infectious causes include lactose intolerance, medication side effects, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease. It is an enormous global health burden, with an estimated 1.7 to 5 billion cases a year and about 1.53 million deaths in 2019 alone; it was the second leading cause of death in children under five as of 2012, with young children in developing countries experiencing it roughly three times a year on average. Most healthy people with access to adequate sanitation recover within days, and the mainstay of treatment is oral rehydration solution together with zinc supplementation, while prevention depends on clean water, sanitation, handwashing, breastfeeding, and rotavirus vaccination.